{"id":10995,"date":"2012-11-09T10:39:52","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T15:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/10rate.com\/?p=10995"},"modified":"2012-11-15T15:37:55","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T20:37:55","slug":"history-of-the-santoku-knife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/10rate.com\/history-of-the-santoku-knife\/","title":{"rendered":"Santoku Knife Use and History"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brittany Rowland<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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These days, the santoku knife has become a ubiquitous kitchen tool, common in all home appliance stores and TV cooking shows. You hear a TV chef rave about the santoku knife, and you wonder if it’s an ancient Japanese knife only recently brought to the West. After all, companies that forge santoku knives in Japan describe using authentic sword-making techniques to craft the steel.<\/p>\n

In fact, the santoku knife’s history goes back only so far, to mid-1940s, when World War II was ending. Western and Japanese cultures blended together, in a way. The Japanese had discovered new styles of cooking popular in the West, so they developed the santoku knife as their own version of the chefs knife. So the santoku knife is a sort of hybrid of Eastern and Western cultures, unlike the sashimi knife, which is a true traditional Japanese knife.<\/p>\n

How exactly does a santoku knife differ from a basic chefs knife? The answer lies in the oval indentations along the edge of the blade. This \u201chollow edge\u201d allows air pockets to form between the knife and the food it’s slicing. You’ll notice when using a santoku knife that there’s less friction and struggling to cut through dense foods. Also, food slides right off the blade instead of sticking to it\u2014something you’ll really appreciate when it comes to cheese.<\/p>\n

The word santoku itself means \u201cthree virtues.\u201d What those three virtues, or uses, are, no one can quite agree. Some theories include:<\/p>\n